From the studio that brought you Despicable Me and The Secret Life of Pets, comes the new star-studded feel good movie to entertain kids and adults on this boxing day.
Sing introduces us to a koala named Buster Moon, who realizes his only chance to restore the family owned theater to its former glory is by producing the world’s greatest singing competition. Unfortunately for him, his half blind, accident prone, chameleon assistant Miss Crawley, turns the $1000 prize money – which he barely has – to a grand prize of $100,000 on all the outgoing flyers.
To Buster Moon’s surprise, contestants eagerly line up outside the theatre the following morning. Along the way we meet the enthusiastic housewife pig, Rosita, her flamboyant singing partner, Gunter. Ash, the heartbroken emo teen porcupine, Meena, a shy elephant with a wonderful singing voice, cocky and troublesome mouse named Mike, as well as the reluctant gangster gorilla, Johnny.
This animation might be called Sing but don’t expect a non-stop musical extravaganza. The plot focuses on the journey each character has to take to get to fulfil their dreams of singing. Which might seem like a nuisance to those wanting a lot of sing-along moments. It’s not until the end that the characters fully get to unleash their talent, and with it, bringing a positive raw energy all audiences will enjoy.
The problem in Sing is that majority of the attention is on Buster Moon, while the other interesting characters are reduced to supporting act with some flashes of what they have to overcome. Gunter can come across as grating which would explain why he is hardly featured. He doesn’t bring much to the story and certainly seems like an afterthought by the creators.
Using animal characters instead of human ones meant the studio and Garth Jennings could get away with much more and still keep the story charming. Certain characters could have been quite unlikable in a human form and undoubtedly would have frightened some of the younger audiences.
While there are no profound life lessons to be found in the subplots, Sing supplies the laughs while sticking to the belief that it’s great to be different and one must try to succeed despite all the odds.
I can’t speak on behalf of children but it was obvious at the premiere that all the kids were fully engaged with the movie right through to the end.
Sing is not one of the most outstanding animated movies you’ll ever see but it is certainly an enjoyable one for both adults and children alike.
I rate it 6 out of 10 stars.
Sing is in cinemas now.
